Search results for: Digital evidence
678 Distortion Estimation in Digital Image Watermarking using Genetic Programming
Authors: Labiba Gilani, Asifullah Khan, Anwar M. Mirza
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This paper introduces a technique of distortion estimation in image watermarking using Genetic Programming (GP). The distortion is estimated by considering the problem of obtaining a distorted watermarked signal from the original watermarked signal as a function regression problem. This function regression problem is solved using GP, where the original watermarked signal is considered as an independent variable. GP-based distortion estimation scheme is checked for Gaussian attack and Jpeg compression attack. We have used Gaussian attacks of different strengths by changing the standard deviation. JPEG compression attack is also varied by adding various distortions. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed technique is able to detect the watermark even in the case of strong distortions and is more robust against attacks.Keywords: Blind Watermarking, Genetic Programming (GP), Fitness Function, Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT).
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1713677 Modeling of Water Erosion in the M'Goun Watershed Using OpenGIS Software
Authors: M. Khal, Ab. Algouti, A. Algouti
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Water erosion is the major cause of the erosion that shapes the earth's surface. Modeling water erosion requires the use of software and GIS programs, commercial or closed source. The very high prices for commercial GIS licenses, motivates users and researchers to find open source software as relevant and applicable as the proprietary GIS. The objective of this study is the modeling of water erosion and the hydrogeological and morphophysical characterization of the Oued M'Goun watershed (southern flank of the Central High Atlas) developed by free programs of GIS. The very pertinent results are obtained by executing tasks and algorithms in a simple and easy way. Thus, the various geoscientific and geostatistical analyzes of a digital elevation model (SRTM 30 m resolution) and their combination with the treatments and interpretation of satellite imagery information allowed us to characterize the region studied and to map the area most vulnerable to water erosion.
Keywords: Central High-Atlas, hydrogeology, M’Goun watershed, OpenGIS, water erosion.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 946676 Congestion Control for Internet Media Traffic
Authors: Mohammad A. Talaat, Magdi A. Koutb, Hoda S. Sorour
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In this paper we investigated a number of the Internet congestion control algorithms that has been developed in the last few years. It was obviously found that many of these algorithms were designed to deal with the Internet traffic merely as a train of consequent packets. Other few algorithms were specifically tailored to handle the Internet congestion caused by running media traffic that represents audiovisual content. This later set of algorithms is considered to be aware of the nature of this media content. In this context we briefly explained a number of congestion control algorithms and hence categorized them into the two following categories: i) Media congestion control algorithms. ii) Common congestion control algorithms. We hereby recommend the usage of the media congestion control algorithms for the reason of being media content-aware rather than the other common type of algorithms that blindly manipulates such traffic. We showed that the spread of such media content-aware algorithms over Internet will lead to better congestion control status in the coming years. This is due to the observed emergence of the era of digital convergence where the media traffic type will form the majority of the Internet traffic.Keywords: Congestion Control, Media Traffic.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1570675 Anti-Social Media: Implications of Social Media in the Form of Stressors on Our Daily Lives
Authors: Aimen Batool Bint-E-Rashid, Huma Irfan
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This research aims to investigate the role of social media (Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) in our daily lives and its implication on our everyday routine in the form of stressors. The study has been validated by a social media survey with 150 social media users belonging to various age groups. The study explores how social media can make an individual anti-social in his or her life offline. To explain the phenomenon, we have proposed and evaluated a model based on social media usage and stressors including burnout and social overload. Results, through correlation and regression tests, have revealed that with increase in social media usage, social overload and burnout also increases. Evidence for the fact that excessive social media usage causes social overload and burnout has been provided in the study.Keywords: Burnout, emotional exhaustion, fatigue, stressors, social networking, social media, social overload.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1051674 Quantum Dot Cellular Automata Based Effective Design of Combinational and Sequential Logical Structures
Authors: Hema Sandhya Jagarlamudi, Mousumi Saha, Pavan Kumar Jagarlamudi
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The use of Quantum dots is a promising emerging Technology for implementing digital system at the nano level. It is effecient for attractive features such as faster speed , smaller size and low power consumption than transistor technology. In this paper, various Combinational and sequential logical structures - HALF ADDER, SR Latch and Flip-Flop, D Flip-Flop preceding NAND, NOR, XOR,XNOR are discussed based on QCA design, with comparatively less number of cells and area. By applying these layouts, the hardware requirements for a QCA design can be reduced. These structures are designed and simulated using QCA Designer Tool. By taking full advantage of the unique features of this technology, we are able to create complete circuits on a single layer of QCA. Such Devices are expected to function with ultra low power Consumption and very high speeds.Keywords: QCA, QCA Designer, Clock, Majority Gate
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2622673 Face Recognition with Image Rotation Detection, Correction and Reinforced Decision using ANN
Authors: Hemashree Bordoloi, Kandarpa Kumar Sarma
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Rotation or tilt present in an image capture by digital means can be detected and corrected using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) for application with a Face Recognition System (FRS). Principal Component Analysis (PCA) features of faces at different angles are used to train an ANN which detects the rotation for an input image and corrected using a set of operations implemented using another system based on ANN. The work also deals with the recognition of human faces with features from the foreheads, eyes, nose and mouths as decision support entities of the system configured using a Generalized Feed Forward Artificial Neural Network (GFFANN). These features are combined to provide a reinforced decision for verification of a person-s identity despite illumination variations. The complete system performing facial image rotation detection, correction and recognition using re-enforced decision support provides a success rate in the higher 90s.Keywords: Rotation, Face, Recognition, ANN.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2065672 A Wavelet-Based Watermarking Method Exploiting the Contrast Sensitivity Function
Authors: John N. Ellinas, Panagiotis Kenterlis
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The efficiency of an image watermarking technique depends on the preservation of visually significant information. This is attained by embedding the watermark transparently with the maximum possible strength. The current paper presents an approach for still image digital watermarking in which the watermark embedding process employs the wavelet transform and incorporates Human Visual System (HVS) characteristics. The sensitivity of a human observer to contrast with respect to spatial frequency is described by the Contrast Sensitivity Function (CSF). The strength of the watermark within the decomposition subbands, which occupy an interval on the spatial frequencies, is adjusted according to this sensitivity. Moreover, the watermark embedding process is carried over the subband coefficients that lie on edges where distortions are less noticeable. The experimental evaluation of the proposed method shows very good results in terms of robustness and transparency.
Keywords: Image watermarking, wavelet transform, human visual system, contrast sensitivity function.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2094671 Learning Theories within Coaching Process
Authors: P. Fazel
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These days we face with so many advertisements in magazines, those mentioned coaching is pragmatic specialties which help people make change in their lives. Up to know Specialty coaches are not necessarily therapists, consultants or psychologist, thus they may not know psychological theories. The International Coach Federation identifies "facilitating learning and results" as one of its four core coach competencies, without understanding learning theories coaching practice hangs in theoretical abyss. Thus the aim of this article is investigating learning theories within coaching process. Therefore, I reviewed some cognitive and behavioral learning theories and analyzed their contribution with coaching process which has been introduced in mentor coaches and ICF certified coaches' papers and books. The result demonstrated that coaching profession is strongly grounded in learning theories, and it will be strengthened by the validation of theories and evidence-based research as we move forward. Thus, it needs more research in order to applying effective theoretical frameworks.
Keywords: Coaching, Learning theories. Cognitive learning theories, behavioral learning theories.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16437670 A Study on the Secure ebXML Transaction Models
Authors: Dongkyoo Shin, Dongil Shin, Sukil Cha, Seyoung Kim
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ebXML (Electronic Business using eXtensible Markup Language) is an e-business standard, sponsored by UN/CEFACT and OASIS, which enables enterprises to exchange business messages, conduct trading relationships, communicate data in common terms and define and register business processes. While there is tremendous e-business value in the ebXML, security remains an unsolved problem and one of the largest barriers to adoption. XML security technologies emerging recently have extensibility and flexibility suitable for security implementation such as encryption, digital signature, access control and authentication. In this paper, we propose ebXML business transaction models that allow trading partners to securely exchange XML based business transactions by employing XML security technologies. We show how each XML security technology meets the ebXML standard by constructing the test software and validating messages between the trading partners.Keywords: Electronic commerce, e-business standard, ebXML, XML security, secure business transaction.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1750669 Analysis of Linear Equalizers for Cooperative Multi-User MIMO Based Reporting System
Authors: S. Hariharan, P. Muthuchidambaranathan
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In this paper, we consider a multi user multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) based cooperative reporting system for cognitive radio network. In the reporting network, the secondary users forward the primary user data to the common fusion center (FC). The FC is equipped with linear equalizers and an energy detector to make the decision about the spectrum. The primary user data are considered to be a digital video broadcasting - terrestrial (DVB-T) signal. The sensing channel and the reporting channel are assumed to be an additive white Gaussian noise and an independent identically distributed Raleigh fading respectively. We analyzed the detection probability of MU-MIMO system with linear equalizers and arrived at the closed form expression for average detection probability. Also the system performance is investigated under various MIMO scenarios through Monte Carlo simulations.
Keywords: Cooperative MU-MIMO, DVB-T, Linear Equalizers.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2025668 The Complementarities of Multi-Lateralism, Andregionalism and Income Convergence: ASEAN and SAARC
Authors: Kankesu Jayanthakumaran, Shao-Wei Lee
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This paper proposes the hypothesis that multilateralism and regionalism are complementary, and that regional income convergence is likely with a like minded and committed regionalism that often has links geographically and culturally. The association between international trade, income per capita, and regional income convergence in founder members of ASEAN and SAARC, is explored by applying the Lumsdaine, and Papell approach. The causal relationships between the above variables are also studied in respective trade blocs by using Granger causality tests. The conclusion is that global reforms have had a greater impact on increasing trade for both trade blocs and induced convergence only in ASEAN-5 countries. The experience of ASEAN countries shows a two-way causal relationship between the flow from trade to regional income convergence, and vice versa. There is no evidence in SAARC countries for income convergence and causality.
Keywords: ASEAN-5, SAARC-5, trade liberalisation, incomeconvergence, structural breaks and causality.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2212667 The Collapse of a Crane on Site: A Case Study
Authors: T. Teruzzi, S. Antonietti, C. Mosca, C. Paglia
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This paper discusses the causes of the structural failure in a tower crane. The structural collapse occurred at the upper joints of the extension element used to increase the height of the crane. The extension element consists of a steel lattice structure made with angular profiles and plates joined to the tower element by arc welding. Macroscopic inspection of the sections showed that the break was always observed on the angular profiles at the weld bead edge. The case study shows how, using mechanical characterization, chemical analysis of the steel and macroscopic and microscopic metallographic examinations, it was possible to obtain significant evidence that identified the mechanism causing the breakage. The analyses identified the causes of the structural failure as the use of materials that were not suitable for welding and poor performance in the welding joints.
Keywords: Failure, weld, microstructure, microcracks.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 509666 eLearning Tools Evaluation based on Quality Concept Distance Computing. A Case Study
Authors: Mihai Caramihai, Irina Severin
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Despite the extensive use of eLearning systems, there is no consensus on a standard framework for evaluating this kind of quality system. Hence, there is only a minimum set of tools that can supervise this judgment and gives information about the course content value. This paper presents two kinds of quality set evaluation indicators for eLearning courses based on the computational process of three known metrics, the Euclidian, Hamming and Levenshtein distances. The “distance" calculus is applied to standard evaluation templates (i.e. the European Commission Programme procedures vs. the AFNOR Z 76-001 Standard), determining a reference point in the evaluation of the e-learning course quality vs. the optimal concept(s). The case study, based on the results of project(s) developed in the framework of the European Programme “Leonardo da Vinci", with Romanian contractors, try to put into evidence the benefits of such a method.Keywords: eLearning, European programme, metrics, quality evaluation
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1524665 Member Investment Willingness in Agricultural Cooperatives in Shaanxi (China)
Authors: Lijia Wang, Xuexi Huo
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This study analyzes characteristics determining member’s willingness to invest in cooperatives using ordered logit model. The data were collected in a field survey among 122 cooperative members in north-central China. The descriptive analysis of survey evidence suggests that cooperatives in China generally having poor ability to deliver the processing services related to product package, grading, and storage, performing worse in profitability, inability of providing returns to capital and obtaining agricultural loan. The regression results demonstrate that members’ farm size, their satisfaction with cooperative price preferential services, attitudes toward cooperative operational scale and development potential have statistically significant impact on willingness to invest.
Keywords: Cooperatives, investment willingness, member, ordered logit.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1703664 Improvement in Silicon on Insulator Devices using Strained Si/SiGe Technology for High Performance in RF Integrated Circuits
Authors: Morteza Fathipour, Samira Omidbakhsh, Kimia Khodayari
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RF performance of SOI CMOS device has attracted significant amount of interest recently. In order to improve RF parameters, Strained Si/Relaxed Si0.8Ge0.2 investigated as a replacement for Si technology .Enhancement of carrier mobility associated with strain engineering makes Strained Si a promising candidate for improving RF performance of CMOS technology. From the simulation, the cut-off frequency is estimated to be 224 GHZ, whereas in SOI at similar bias is about 188 GHZ. Therefore, Strained Si exhibits 19% improvement in cut-off frequency over similar Si counterpart. In this paper, Ion/Ioff ratio is studied as one of the key parameters in logic and digital application. Strained Si/SiGe demonstrates better Ion/Ioff characteristic than SOI, in similar channel length of 100 nm.Another important key analog figures of merit such as Early Voltage (VEA) ,transconductance vs drain current (gm /Ids) are studied. They introduce the efficiency of the devices to convert dc power into ac frequency.Keywords: cut-off frequency, RF application, Silicon oninsulator, Strained Si/SiGe on insulator.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1743663 Evaluation of Internet Anxiety in SRBIAU Higher Education Students in Research Process
Authors: Nima Babazadeh Gashti, Nazanin Pilevari
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Increase in using internet makes some problems that one of them is "internet anxiety". Internet anxiety is a type of anxious that people may feel during surfing internet or using internet for their educational purpose, blogging or streaming to digital libraries. The goal of this study is evaluating of internet anxiety among the management students. In this research Ealy's internet anxiety questionnaire, consists of positive and negative items, is completed by 310 participants. According to the findings, about 64.7% of them were equal or below to mean anxiety score (50). The distribution of internet anxiety scores was normal and there was no meaningful difference between men-s and women's anxiety level in this sample. Results also showed that there is no meaningful difference of internet anxiety level between different fields of study in Management. This evaluation will help managers to perform gap analysis between the existent level and the desired one. Future work would be providing techniques for abating human anxiety while using internet via human computer interaction techniques.Keywords: Internet, anxiety, research process, internet identification, human computer interaction.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2049662 Auteur 3D Filmmaking: From Hitchcock’s Protrusion Technique to Godard’s Immersion Aesthetic
Authors: Delia Enyedi
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Throughout film history, the regular return of 3D cinema has been discussed in connection to crises caused by the advent of television or the competition of the Internet. In addition, the three waves of stereoscopic 3D (from 1952 up to 1983) and its current digital version have been blamed for adding a challenging technical distraction to the viewing experience. By discussing the films Dial M for Murder (1954) and Goodbye to Language (2014), the paper aims to analyze the response of recognized auteurs to the use of 3D techniques in filmmaking. For Alfred Hitchcock, the solution to attaining perceptual immersion paradoxically resided in restraining the signature effect of 3D, namely protrusion. In Jean-Luc Godard’s vision, 3D techniques allowed him to explore perceptual absorption by means of depth of field, for which he had long advocated as being central to cinema. Thus, both directors contribute to the foundation of an auteur aesthetic in 3D filmmaking.Keywords: Alfred Hitchcock, authorship, 3D filmmaking, Jean-Luc Godard, perceptual absorption, perceptual immersion.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1028661 Automatic Detection of Mass Type Breast Cancer using Texture Analysis in Korean Digital Mammography
Authors: E. B. Jo, J. H. Lee, J. Y. Park, S. M. Kim
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In this study, we present an advanced detection technique for mass type breast cancer based on texture information of organs. The proposed method detects the cancer areas in three stages. In the first stage, the midpoints of mass area are determined based on AHE (Adaptive Histogram Equalization). In the second stage, we set the threshold coefficient of homogeneity by using MLE (Maximum Likelihood Estimation) to compute the uniformity of texture. Finally, mass type cancer tissues are extracted from the original image. As a result, it was observed that the proposed method shows an improved detection performance on dense breast tissues of Korean women compared with the existing methods. It is expected that the proposed method may provide additional diagnostic information for detection of mass-type breast cancer.Keywords: Mass Type Breast Cancer, Mammography, Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE), Ranklets, SVM
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1993660 The Next Frontier for Mobile Based Augmented Reality: An Evaluation of AR Uptake in India
Authors: K. Krishna Milan Rao, Nelvin Joseph, Praveen Dwarakanath
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Augmented and Virtual Realties is quickly becoming a hotbed of activity with millions of dollars being spent on R & D and companies such as Google and Microsoft rushing to stake their claim. Augmented reality (AR) is however marching ahead due to the spread of the ideal AR device – the smartphone. Despite its potential, there remains a deep digital divide between the Developed and Developing Countries. The Technological Acceptance Model (TAM) and Hofstede cultural dimensions also predict the behaviour intention to uptake AR in India will be large. This paper takes a quantified approach by collecting 340 survey responses to AR scenarios and analyzing them through statistics. The Survey responses show that the Intention to Use, Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Enjoyment dimensions are high among the urban population in India. This along with the exponential smartphone indicates that India is on the cusp of a boom in the AR sector.Keywords: Mobile augmented reality, technology acceptance model, Hofstede, cultural dimensions, India.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1559659 Shot Transition Detection with Minimal Decoding of MPEG Video Streams
Authors: Mona A. Fouad, Fatma M. Bayoumi, Hoda M. Onsi, Mohamed G. Darwish
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Digital libraries become more and more necessary in order to support users with powerful and easy-to-use tools for searching, browsing and retrieving media information. The starting point for these tasks is the segmentation of video content into shots. To segment MPEG video streams into shots, a fully automatic procedure to detect both abrupt and gradual transitions (dissolve and fade-groups) with minimal decoding in real time is developed in this study. Each was explored through two phases: macro-block type's analysis in B-frames, and on-demand intensity information analysis. The experimental results show remarkable performance in detecting gradual transitions of some kinds of input data and comparable results of the rest of the examined video streams. Almost all abrupt transitions could be detected with very few false positive alarms.Keywords: Adaptive threshold, abrupt transitions, gradual transitions, MPEG video streams.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1561658 Effects of the Stock Market Dynamic Linkages on the Central and Eastern European Capital Markets
Authors: Ioan Popa, Cristiana Tudor, Radu Lupu
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The interdependences among stock market indices were studied for a long while by academics in the entire world. The current financial crisis opened the door to a wide range of opinions concerning the understanding and measurement of the connections considered to provide the controversial phenomenon of market integration. Using data on the log-returns of 17 stock market indices that include most of the CEE markets, from 2005 until 2009, our paper studies the problem of these dependences using a new methodological tool that takes into account both the volatility clustering effect and the stochastic properties of these linkages through a Dynamic Conditional System of Simultaneous Equations. We find that the crisis is well captured by our model as it provides evidence for the high volatility – high dependence effect.Keywords: Stock market interdependences, Dynamic System ofSimultaneous Equations, financial crisis
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1781657 Governance and Economic Growth: Evidence of Ten Asian Countries
Authors: Chiung-Ju Huang
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This study utilizes a frequency domain approach over the period of 1996 to 2013 to examine the causal relationship between governance and economic growth in ten Asian countries, which have different levels of democracy; classified as “Free”, “Partly Free”, and “Not Free” countries. The empirical results show that there is no Granger causality running from governance to economic growth in “Not Free” countries and “Partly Free” countries with the exception of Singapore. As for “Free” countries such as South Korea and Taiwan, there is a one-way causality running from governance to economic growth. The findings of this study indicate that policy makers in South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore could use governance index to improve their predictions of the future economic growth.Keywords: Economic growth, frequency domain, governance, Granger causality.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2334656 Synergies between Physical and Electronic Developments: A Case Study of Taipei City
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It is claimed that a new style of urban planning and policy intertwined with ICT is emerging and urban planning and ICT policy are no longer considered as separate disciplines. The interactions between electronic spaces and urban spaces are so complex and uncertain that confront urban planners and policy makers with great challenges. However, the assumption about the relationship between ICT and urban planning is mainly based on North American and European experiences. In the light of empirical evidence from Taipei City, this paper shows that this new type of urban planning and policy intertwined with ICT has existed in Asian city for a decade as well. Based on these results, this paper further reviews how the Taipei City government implements this new type of urban ICT planning and the validity and realism of its underlying assumptions. Finally, it also explores the extent to which urban ICT planning could promote positive synergies between physical and electronic developments.Keywords: ICT, Taipei City, Urban ICT Planning.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1439655 Strategic Human Resources Management practice, “Are We There yet“? The Incorporation of a Human Resources Strategy within a University's Strategic Plan
Authors: Eileen M. J. Knight
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This study examines the structural and systematic processes of the Human Resources Division at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago for evidence of incorporation of the University's 2012- 2017 Strategic Plan. In conducting the study the structure of the Human Resources Management Division and its functions were carefully reviewed and measured against the strategic direction of the organisation. Findings indicate disconnect between these areas as there is apparent failure of the Human Resources Division to totally align its mandate with that of the organisation-s strategic direction. This action serves to threaten the viability of the organisation and its efficiency and effectiveness as an institution. The recommendations being put forward are for the realignment of the Human Resources Management Division and for its focus to mirror that of the organisation and the organisation-s goals and objectives. This may entail a restructuring of the Division.
Keywords: Commonwealth Caribbean, Realignment, Region, Strategic Plan.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1862654 Assessment of Maternal and Embryo-Fetal Toxicity of Copper Oxide Fungicide
Authors: André M. Ornelas, Lise P. Labéjof, Ligia V. Lage dos Santos, Jackson A. Santos
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The excessive use of agricultural pesticides and the resulting contamination of food and beds of rivers have been a recurring problem nowadays. Some of these substances can cause changes in endocrine balance and impair reproductive function of human and animal population. In the present study, we evaluated the possible effects of the fungicide cuprous copper oxide Sandoz® on pregnant Wistar rats. They received a daily oral administration of 103 or 3.103 mg/kg of the fungicide from the 6th to the 15th day of gestation. On day 21 of gestation, the maternal and fetal toxicity parameters and indices were determined. The administration of cuprous oxide (Copper Sandoz) in Wistar rats, the period of organogenesis, revealed no evidence of maternal toxicity or embryo at the studied doses.Keywords: Reproductive toxicity, endocrine disrupter, cupper Sandoz®, rodent
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1827653 A Nonoblivious Image Watermarking System Based on Singular Value Decomposition and Texture Segmentation
Authors: Soroosh Rezazadeh, Mehran Yazdi
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In this paper, a robust digital image watermarking scheme for copyright protection applications using the singular value decomposition (SVD) is proposed. In this scheme, an entropy masking model has been applied on the host image for the texture segmentation. Moreover, the local luminance and textures of the host image are considered for watermark embedding procedure to increase the robustness of the watermarking scheme. In contrast to all existing SVD-based watermarking systems that have been designed to embed visual watermarks, our system uses a pseudo-random sequence as a watermark. We have tested the performance of our method using a wide variety of image processing attacks on different test images. A comparison is made between the results of our proposed algorithm with those of a wavelet-based method to demonstrate the superior performance of our algorithm.Keywords: Watermarking, copyright protection, singular value decomposition, entropy masking, texture segmentation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1768652 Analysis of Initial Entry-Level Technology Course Impacts on STEM Major Selection
Authors: Ethan Shafer, Timothy Graziano, Jay Fisher
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This research seeks to answer whether first-year courses at institutions of higher learning can impact STEM major selection. Unlike many universities, an entry-level technology course (often referred to as CS0) is required for all United States Military Academy (USMA) students–regardless of major–in their first year of attendance. Students at the Academy choose their major at the end of their first year of studies. Through student responses to a multi-semester survey, this paper identifies a number of factors that potentially influence STEM major selection. Student demographic data, pre-existing exposure and access to technology, perceptions of STEM subjects, and initial desire for a STEM major are captured before and after taking a CS0 course. An analysis of factors that contribute to student perception of STEM and major selection are presented. This work provides recommendations and suggestions for institutions currently providing or looking to provide CS0-like courses to their students.
Keywords: STEM major, STEM, pedagogy, digital literacy.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 215651 The Decentralized Nonlinear Controller of Robot Manipulator with External Load Compensation
Authors: Sun Lim, Il-Kyun Jung
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This paper describes a newly designed decentralized nonlinear control strategy to control a robot manipulator. Based on the concept of the nonlinear state feedback theory and decentralized concept is developed to improve the drawbacks in previous works concerned with complicate intelligent control and low cost effective sensor. The control methodology is derived in the sense of Lyapunov theorem so that the stability of the control system is guaranteed. The decentralized algorithm does not require other joint angle and velocity information. Individual Joint controller is implemented using a digital processor with nearly actuator to make it possible to achieve good dynamics and modular. Computer simulation result has been conducted to validate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme under the occurrence of possible uncertainties and different reference trajectories. The merit of the proposed control system is indicated in comparison with a classical control system.Keywords: Robot manipulator control, nonlinear controller, Lyapunov based stability, Interconnection compensation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1631650 Evaluation Factors of Clinical Decision Support System in u_Healthcare Service
Authors: Sun K. Yoo, Ki-Chang Nam, Hyun-Young Shin, Ho-Seong Moon, Hee Cheol Kang
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Automated intelligent, clinical decision support systems generally promote to help or to assist physicians and patients regarding to prevention of diseases or treatment of illnesses using computer represented knowledge and information. In this paper, assessment factors affecting the proper design of clinical decision support system were investigated. The required procedure steps for gathering the data from clinical trial and extracting the information from large volume of healthcare repositories were listed, which are necessary for validation and verification of evidence-based implementation of clinical decision support system. The goal of this paper is to extract useful evaluation factors affecting the quality of the clinical decision support system in the design, development, and implementation of a computer-based decision support system.
Keywords: Evaluation, Clinical Decision Support System.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2239649 Effect of Incentives on Knowledge Sharing and Learning – Evidence from the Indian IT Sector
Authors: Asish O. Mathew, Lewlyn L. R. Rodrigues
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The organizations in the knowledge economy era have recognized the importance of building knowledge assets for sustainable growth and development. In comparison to other industries, Information Technology (IT) enterprises, holds an edge in developing an effective Knowledge Management (KM) programmethanks to their in-house technological abilities. This paper tries to study the various knowledge based incentive programmes and its effect on Knowledge Sharing and Learning in the context of the Indian IT sector. A conceptual model is developed linking KM Incentives, Knowledge Sharing and Learning. A questionnaire study is conducted to collect primary data from the knowledge workers of the IT organizations located in India. The data was analysed using Structural Equation Modeling using Partial Least Square method. The results show a strong influence of knowledge management incentives on knowledge sharing and an indirect influence on learning.
Keywords: Knowledge Management, Knowledge Management Incentives, Knowledge Sharing, Learning.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3695